Introspections
by Laelwen
Summary: Some possibly OOC and marginally AU musings of Cad Bane on Hardeen prior to, during and after "The Box" and "Crisis on Naboo".
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**

All characters in this piece are the properties of George Lucas and Co. All credit for this piece, therefore, goes to them for the creation of the wonderful world and characters I am playing with in this story.

**Summary:**

Some possibly OOC and marginally AU musings of Cad Bane on Hardeen prior to "The Box".

* * *

><p><strong>Introspections<strong>

Cad Bane was not a nice duros. Far from it. Indeed, as far as general nastiness was concerned there were few around who were more proficient at it than he. It was one of those incontestable truths of the galaxy; Tatooine had two suns, Coruscant was covered in sprawling city, Jedi were interfering doo-gooders and he was a ruthless, amoral and competent bounty hunter. It was a fact of which he was justly proud.

So it was with no small amount of irritation that he realised he did not dislike Hardeen as much as he had when they had met two days ago in the prison cell. For most people this would not have been a problem. They would have decided they had misjudged the man, perhaps, or just decided he'd 'grown on them'. But Cad Bane was of the sort of disposition that recognised such platitudes as, well, platitudes. And as an alien with nearly two decades of experience in the bounty hunting profession, he was used to making snap decisions with instinctive accuracy. Rarely had he been wrong in his summation of the character of others.

Hardeen he had tagged as weak; plenty of bravado but no actual substance when it came to doing such necessary tasks as shooting unarmed (or armed) inconveniently situated bystanders. He gave the man points in courage for turning on his teammates, and for resourcefulness in obtaining a new ship, but anyone could see the revulsion in those eyes when forced to kill. Cad Bane could not respect such a man.

If he had been wrong in his initial assessment he could have shrugged it off. A simple mistake anyone could have made, thinking that the blaster was working fine in the cremation chambers and that he had been virtually pleading with Fett Jr not to make him fight. Prison could do that to you. And the man had supposedly been dirty enough to kill Kenobi with a sniper gun.

Unfortunately, from throwing credit chips to Pablo's assistant to trying to help Eval and Cad Bane out of ship wreckages, Hardeen showed himself to be a lamentably honourable man. It was curious really, just how a man who would dive Skywalker from the side-lines as he readied a maiming-Cad refused to say killing-blow would have sniped Kenobi from the rooftops...

He scowled thoughtfully, chewing on the electrostraw he never liked to be without. More long lasting than chewing gums, the device could double as a needle-like weapon in a pinch. It was why he didn't chew in combat; death by accidental swallowing of a relaxational prop wasn't how he wanted the holonet to record his death. But that was not the point.

The point was that despite having been absolutely correct in his initial assessment of the man's character, he was starting to not-quite-hate him.

It could have started when the man had cooked the meal on the ship, enough for three, after Cad had refused on general principles to do so menial a chore and Eval had muttered something about evil genius' being above such material considerations. Or perhaps it had been earlier, when Hardeen volunteered to face Kenobi's blatantly grief-stricken apprentice alone. He'd dealt with Skywalker's particular brand of possessive protectiveness before; going by the look on his face, so had Hardeen.

It shouldn't have made a difference, though, the things that Hardeen seemed to take for granted. But a part of him had to admit, despite himself, that with Hardeen he didn't feel the need to be constantly on his guard. The man was simply too loyal to betray an ally, and to nice to backstab without cause.

It wasn't trust, precisely, because Cad Bane didn't trust others. But it was as close to it as he was ever likely to come.

And that bothered him.

After he got his money he decided he'd be parting ways with the Hardeen as soon as possible. At Sorenno. And then he would no longer have to deal with the man who had so illogically chosen to show honour to the honourless and who tempted them (though he would never admit this out loud) to reciprocate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **The Star Wars universe is not, and never will be, mine. I am but playing with the characters of George Lucas' wonderful galaxy.

**Summary**: Because I couldn't stop. The slightly OOC and marginally AU musings of Cad Bane on Hardeen prior and during "The Box" and after "Crisis on Naboo".

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Box<strong>

"_I'm_ in if _he's_ in."

The words were spoken gruffly, with firm purpose, and Cad Bane shot Hardeen a slightly dark look. Bonus credits and Hardeen vs nothing and no Hardeen, it seemed, were his options. Or possibly no bonus credits and still Hardeen because his wording implied that he intended to continue sticking to Cad like a mynock on an open power circuit regardless of the duros' decision.

Oh well. Credits were credits. Cad Bane had a reputation to maintain. He refused to sacrifice what promised to be a profitable venture purely because Hardeen happened to be an honourable man he was finding it more and more difficult to properly dislike. Especially after discovering that Hardeen followed team Bylluran Athletic in the Bolo-ball championships.

First things first though, if the Count's almost savage smile at the phrase 'friendly contest' were anything to go by, he was going to need better equipment. The outfit he was wearing was a step better than the prison slops, to be sure, but it lacked the basic extras he needed to truly excel. Like breathing hoses and wrist electrocuters. And flamethrowers...

Unfortunately, as he later found, Serenno was a planet of aesthetic forests and sculptured palaces. A land of rugged beauty both rich and diverse. It was not a planet of advanced and illegal arms dealing. He returned that evening to the Count's estate empty handed.

OOOOOOOO

"So, what kinda 'friendly little contest' do you think the Count's got planned?"

Hardeen was wearing his helmet so both his expression and tone were hard to read. Cad thought he caught a wry note though, and allowed himself the faintest of grins.

"I'd be surprised if we all make it out alive."

Especially if those hammerheads were going to participate. Those herbivores had less luck than a rusty separatist battledroid.

Red eyes narrowed suddenly. Cad Bane came to a halt. Was that...? It _was_.

"Nice hat."

Hardeen's compassion apparently triumphed over self preservation instincts. Unfortunately for him, Cad knew him well enough now to anticipate the hand that snaked out to catch his shoulder. He brought up a hand to intercept it and shoved Hardeen away. No one got between Cad Bane and his hat.

The ithorian grunted in surprise.

"Where'd ya yet it?"

One hand was hovering above his blaster now. The ithorian had an expression on its face, but that was about all he could tell. The creature had seconds to think up a suitable reply. It drew its blaster. Its smoking corpse hit the floor bare seconds later.

OOOOOOOO

Cad Bane had expected on some level that the Count was exaggerating when he'd spoken of the challenge of The Box. He had classed the motley group of aliens he'd assembled as the best bounty hunters in the galaxy after all, and Cad knew from personal experience that Aurra had more talent in her left hand than half of these fools combined. (The half that didn't contain himself).

He'd been right. Though not admittedly, by as large a margin as he'd been expecting. The gasses in the first room were relatively straightforward; one didn't need Hardeen's warning to know that green, roiling fumes were a bad thing to breathe in. He found himself missing his breathing hoses though.

His own confidence in Hardeen was by now not a surprise. It was a weakness and he was fully determined to conceal it, but there was no denying that when he had followed Hardeen down into the gas he would have been very surprised to have been double crossed.

The second room was harder, if only because precise timing was needed to leap from platform to platform as the deadly spike-tipped things popped out and in. Hardeen's leadership was a surprise though. He gave orders with complete confidence that all the others would follow, and follow they did. Though that might just have been because he happened to be right. His persistence in offering help to Cad Bane as though he, the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, could not jump platforms was by now somewhat less unexpected.

He neither needed nor wanted Hardeen's help. And he was quite capable of pulling himself up from a mistimed jump, whatever his companion might think.

He was balanced now carefully, carelessly, on a stone pillar, as the parwan drank the serum and pushed a tentacle through the crimson ray shield. Hardeen was right again. He was starting to wonder just how an assassin from Concord Dawn knew about obscure alien species and when, or where, he had acquired his leadership abilities.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the selkath slip, precariously balanced between two stone blocks and dangerously close to the deadly walls. He made no move to help it.

The ray shield inched closer. The selkath fell. Hardeen turned back, one hand outstretched as though he would have helped it had he noticed its plight in time. Another merciful gesture from the assassin.

Cad Bane frowned.

And then the parwan had flicked off the deadly shielding and they were walking through to what he suspected was going to be the final room. Five survivors the count had said, and at the moment there were only six of them left. It would have to be a rather pathetic challenge if it failed to kill even one of them.

OOOOOOOO

Cad Bane's innate ingenuity had been tested many times throughout the course of his long career. Between negotiating with sith lords, stealing Jedi holocrons, breaking prisoners out of high security cells on Coruscant and dealing with the Hutts he'd had a good deal of practice at talking, and thinking, fast under pressure.

After Room One he hadn't expected Eval's box to test it. That just went to show that expect the unexpected should have been his code, along with show no mercy and form no attachments.

Only they too seemed strangely frayed.

It was hard to say just who was more surprised by the fact that Hardeen was currently hanging from his wrist wire; himself or Eval. The reaction had been purely instinctive because... because why? His reputation was at stake; he needed to_ think_.

"If you're gonna kill him, do it like a man."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **

The Star Wars universe is not, and never will be, mine. I am but playing with the characters of George Lucas' wonderful galaxy.

**Summary**:

Because I couldn't stop. The slightly OOC and marginally AU musings of Cad Bane on Hardeen prior and during "The Box" and "Crisis on Naboo".

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: "Crisis on Naboo".<strong>

There were some things which were simply considered bad form in Cad's line of work, and just behind using holo-recognition techniques to identify cloaked figures came pressing for details about plans one wasn't involved in. However, now that he was not only involved with the plan but being put entirely in charge of it he had no qualms about requesting full details from Eval.

He had first begun to suspect that Eval hadn't thought things through completely when he realised that everyone would have died in room three of the box if, by some unfortunate chance, the parwan had been squashed, chocked or stabbed in rooms one and two. He was not proved wrong when the phindian grudgingly shared his master plan.

For one thing, the master plan assumed everyone would be making their way to the same rendezvous point. And to Cad Bane, that suggested that the probability of jedi pursuers catching up to the Chancellor had just increased by a factor of five. For another, it assumed no jedi would be sticking with the Chancellor when he was shot after the ray shields were deactivated.

And if there was one thing Cad Bane knew about jedi it was that they were irritatingly there, wherever there was a there they weren't supposed to be. They also had an unpleasent habit of knowing things they hadn't been told.

So, not to put too fine a point on it, he fully expected he would need to improvise quite heavily during the execution of Eval's brainchild.

Not that the plan was completely hopeless. The holographic disguise matrixes were one of the best infiltration tools he'd seen in years and the parwan_ had_ lived. There was bound to be _some_ level of chaos when it flicked off the ray shields.

Hardeen, too, was a reliable shot for everything save killing. He'd be sure to emphasise in the man's instructions that the blast was designed to incapacitate, not injure, the Chancellor. It wouldn't do to have the blaster rifle inexplicably jam...

He lent back casually in the chair, in the centre of the ship at the only table, picking out a stubborn scrap of grilled scalefish from between his teeth with his electrostraw.

It was odd, really, how so soft a man as Hardeen had managed to kill Kenobi. The man hadn't even managed to kill Eval, and that despite the fact that the phindian had been trying to murder him at the time. He'd acted in the face of Dooku's blatant encouragement too... but perhaps he simply had a problem with jedi. Or maybe Kenobi in particular? The man _had_ been prepared to torture his enemies to accomplish his goals; he knew that from deeply unpleasant personal experience...

He thought on that for a long moment.

He was surprised to find a flicker of empathy within himself for the man.

OOOOO

The assignment of roles was simple enough. The parwan needed to deactivate the shields, Hardeen was the only logical choice for the sniper. That left Twazzi and Embo to impersonate the guards and himself to kidnap the Chancellor. Eval would need to get away because Eval owed him for the prison rescue. Eval was mentally assigned the job of getaway driver.

One day to go. And he couldn't quite decide which would be more welcome: Five million credits and triple his usual fee inside his accounts or no Hardeen making life complicated with _morals_.

OOOOO

Utter chaos.

He had expected things would go wrong with Eval's plan, but he had not expected things to go _that_ wrong. It had started when Skywalker had somehow known Derrown was flicking off the energy shields and interfered.

Well, he was no novice to be thrown by such minor setbacks. He had improvised; worked with the resulting explosion. And so had Embo and the Frenk, masterfully performing the switch as soon as the jedi's backs were turned.

The plan had deteriorated further when the jedi had inexplicably rushed over to Embo and Twazzi, apparently not fooled by their holographic disguises. Well, things weren't too far gone yet. Delaying tactics were the call. Twazzi had decided to punch Skywalker in the face. Embo had opted for surrender. Sensible of him. No one had noticed him pulling away a supposed senate guard until far too late.

But Cad had finally been forced to accept that things were looking bleak indeed at the final setback. It seemed Dooku had pulled out. He had failed to show up at the rendezvous point. Now what did the sith know that he didn't?

Well, at least Hardeen had made it. Between him, Eval and himself he was sure they'd be able to hold onto the Chancellor long enough to ransom him to _someone._

Because after the trouble he'd gone to with this job he, Cad Bane, was most definitely going to get paid.

OOOOO

"I'm afraid the Chancellor's commin' with me."

He meant it too. That blaster which was pointing at his chest was not shaking; there was not the thinnest sliver of indecision written upon Hardeen's face.

He felt as though he'd been living in a zero-G field for the last week and someone had abruptly decided to turn it off. While he'd been stuck to the roof. It was probably fortunate that Eval had twisted Hardeen's arm just then because Cad had been too shocked to go for his own blaster. Why...?

For profit? For revenge? To rescue the Chancellor?

A small, barely acknowledged part of him was hurt by the man's betrayal. He hadn't even been planning to double cross him this time. The larger, more logical part of him was just happy that the underlying principles of the galaxy had been restored. No one did anything for nothing and trust was just a tool used to manipulate the gullible.

And while the fact that he'd been taken in by a doublecrossing snake was definitely a blow for his ego, at least that pathetic, tentative vine of trust and respect he'd felt growing for Hardeen was thoroughly crushed. The only thing you could truly rely on were credits.

One thing was certain: Hardeen was going down.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**

All characters in this piece are the properties of George Lucas and Co. All credit for this piece, therefore, goes to them for the creation of the wonderful world and characters I am playing with in this story.

**Summary:**

Some possibly OOC and marginally AU musings of Cad Bane on Hardeen prior to, during and after "The Box" and "Crisis on Naboo".

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

Things hadn't gone as planned. This shouldn't have surprised Cad Bane, because nothing after the kidnap attempt had unfolded the way it was supposed to. Still, that didn't make the fact that he was currently prone on the ground beside Eval any less humiliating.

Admittedly he'd hesitated a second too long in shooting Hardeen when he'd kicked him to the ground. That had been deliberate; Hardeen deserved a chance to die standing like a man, not like bantha fodder in the dirt. Cad had that much respect for him left. But Hardeen wasn't supposed to be able to pull out moves which stank of jedi techniques to avoid his subsequent shots.

Hardeen certainly shouldn't have been able to reach him when he'd boosted off the ground, his instincts warning him that the man was a whole lot more dangerous than he'd previously believed.

And now Hardeen was approaching him, blaster at the ready. He lay there for an instant, too sore to move. Being thrown into the ground with the full force of a pair of propulsors behind him tended to do that, even with a phindian for cushioning. Eval, less injured, demonstrated his team loyalty by hastily backing away, all traces of courage seeping from him like slime through hutt pores.

If he were to be fully honest with himself, Cad Bane knew he was in trouble. He didn't have a weapon and his body wouldn't move. He needed to buy time; to distract Hardeen long enough to get moving again. He half opened his mouth. Hardeen's eyes seemed suddenly very cold...

The sudden shrieking of an engine distracted him. A blue landspeeder. They pulled up almost in front of him and even if they hadn't the hiss of two lightsabers igniting would have told him exactly who had arrived. That and the backflip exits from the landspeeder. Only jedi though that was the best way to get out of a ship... Blast it, he was willing to bet his entire account's worth of credits that Dooku had known about this.

"Please. Do not kill Moralo Eval."

Yes, the criminal genius _would_ opt for vapour-spirited snivelling. Well, defeated though he might be (because it would have been a challenge escaping from Windu and Skywalker at the best of times and he was currently sorely underequipped), he had no intention of following the phindian's example. He sneered. Didn't Eval know jedi didn't willingly kill?

A clone pulled him to his feet; firmly but not roughly. He was surprisingly considerate, given that Cad had almost kidnapped his leader. He was recovering his ability to move now; his legs were half supporting his weight.

He saw Windu approach Hardeen. He wondered how much the jedi had paid the man to betray the plot to them, for surely there was no other way they could have reached the coordinates this quickly. There was also no other obvious explanation for their friendly reception of him; Skywalker was not trying to slice him down now. Cad decided then and there Kenobi was most probably alive.

Windu was speaking now. He gave him the part of his attention not busy thinking of potential plans of escape.

"You did a good job... Obi-wan."

Cad was sure he hadn't imagined the pointed glance from the dark-skinned master that accompanied the revelation.

That hurt more than it should. Possibly because all the signs had been there and he'd overlooked them; or rather, chosen to ignore them. Like the leadership skills. The mercy. The fact that, as he now saw, Har-no, _Kenobi,_ had been intent on worming his way into the plan from day one. Even Dooku's apparent double cross made sense; he'd warned Bane something was wrong with the man. He _had_ seen this coming.

Anger gave him strength and he pushed off the arms of the clone trooper steadying his shoulders.

"Kenobi. I should have _known_. Somethin' smelled wrong about you from the start."

Kenobi, and it was strange to see the General's wry expression on Hardeen's familiar face, looked at him, one eyebrow raised quizzically.

"Yes, well, spending so much time with_ you_ was no reward either."

It was Hardeen's voice, low, gravelly and ill-bred. But the words were Kenobi's and his gaze was entirely dismissive. It was as though his time as a bounty hunter had just been a necessary but unpleasant role he'd performed and now it was over he no longer had any use for those whom he'd manipulated into trusting him. No need to pretend to respect them.

On second thoughts, that was probably exactly what he'd felt.

"_Reward?_ I'll give _you_ a reward when I plug you full of laser bolts."

It was satisfying to say that, even if he was getting his arms manacled behind his back and led off, most likely back to prison. Satisfying because he realised now that every gesture from Hardeen had been made with the purpose of getting in on the plan. He hadn't helped against Skywalker or in the Box because he'd had honour or cared but because Cad Bane and Moralo Eval had been a useful tools; without them there was no way Dooku would have included him in the plot. And Cad Bane had rescued him.

OOOOO

He was put inside a cell for the flight back to Coruscant. Small. Isolated. A yellow ray shield blocked the exit. It was very familiar. Cad decided he was glad he didn't have any information the jedi wanted.

The trip was short. Just one standard week. A small squad of troops stood guard outside the entrance when food was delivered. Windu came the first time too, doubtless to make sure he fully understood the futility of trying to escape from the cruiser.

He did.

He fully intended to hold off his escape until he reached the high security prisons. He'd been in there four times now, and only two of them had been intentional. It wouldn't be easy, but he was sure he'd be out within the month. If stealth failed there was always someone who could be bribed to smuggle in a weapon or turn a blind eye to similarly shady activities.

And this time there'd be no Hardeen or Eval to complicate matters.


	5. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **

The Star Wars universe is not, and never will be, mine. I am but playing with the characters of George Lucas' wonderful galaxy.

**Summary**:

Because I couldn't stop. The slightly OOC and marginally AU musings of Cad Bane after "The Box" and "Crisis on Naboo".

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

There was no problem, in principle, with holding a grudge, or in seeking revenge for a slight. In fact Cad Bane had frequently taken revenge upon clients who hadn't payed him the credits they'd promised or on allies who had double crossed him for personal gain.

But as he sat alone at a table in the shared hall of the prison consuming the tasteless slop it pleased the system to term lunch, the potential negatives of seeking revenge on Kenobi were becoming regrettably clear: If he went after Kenobi he'd have to spend months arranging events to ensure the man was alone. He'd waste millions of credits on missed bounties. And on ruined equipment. Embo might beat his tallies.

Put simply, while it was certainly tempting to waste his time perusing a personal vendetta against Kenobi, it simply wasn't profitable. Sing and Fett were pin up examples of what happened to you once you went down that road.

Speak of the devil.

A young man, all gangly angles and decidedly orange, was approaching him. Boba stood there for a moment, then took a seat. In a low, abrupt voice he said:

"Bossk and I are planning on breaking out tomorrow, during the rotation of the guard cycles; stole some weapons during your escape. We need someone to help pick off the guards. Interested?"

If he'd had his hat, Cad would have adjusted it slightly and leant back. He didn't though, so he raised an eyebrow instead.

"How much are you payin'?"

OOOOO

Two weeks after the Festival of Light it was announced across the holonet that there had been another break out from the high security block on Coruscant.


End file.
